Alternative
Way To Predict Heart DiseaseMarried people are at a lower risk of getting a heart disease and stroke. A large study that was released on March 28, 2014 and presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Scientific Session on March 29, 2014, found that married people are less likely than singles, divorced or widowed people to suffer from any kind of heart or blood vessel problem.

q

Are Diet And Exercise Best For Diabetes Prevention?Diabetics are at a higher risk of developing many diseases including blindness and kidney failure, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Diabetes can also cause mild to severe nerve damage, and trigger diabetes-related circulation problems that often leads to the loss of a leg or foot. Fortunately, Type-2 diabetes is preventable.

q

Are Full-Service Restaurant Food Healthier Than Fast Food?Fast food restaurants have always been blamed as the culprits that cause obesity epidemic by supplying to public food that is of high fat and high salt (sodium). Naturally, people might think that foods served in full-service restaurants should be healthier than those from the fast food chains. But…

q

Can Chocolate Really Prevent Heart Disease?Being the most liked food in the world, chocolate is made from cocoa beans. Many studies have revealed that it has several health benefits. German researchers recently found that substances called flavanols that are found in cocoa could help people have healthy heart circulation as they get older.

q

Can Counting Calories Help Prevent Heart Disease?Modern lifestyles such as sedentary and unhealthy diet have been accused to be the culprit to cause such epidemic. Losing as little as 3-5 percent of the body weight can reduce the heart disease risk, according to the American Heart Association. Obviously, losing weight is the only option for people who wish to prevent from getting these diseases.

q

Can Sleep Deprivation Cause Heart Disease And Stroke?Lack of sleep can make one feel tired, forgetful and sometimes even grumpy. People who have inadequate sleep might not be able to make sound judgment and are prone to causing accidents on the road or at their work places. Long period of sleep deprivation may lead to depression and weight gain, too. That is not all…

q

Could Depression Raise Heart Failure Patients’ Death Rate?While previous study has shown that depression is linked to death in patients with heart failure, it was thought that this could be due to the fact that depressed patients have more severe heart failure and more comorbidities. A recent study indicated that depression could actually raise the risk of death among people with heart failure.

q

Does Slim Hypertensive People Have Higher Cardiovascular Risk?While overweight or obese people with hypertension (high blood pressure) could end up with disastrous outcome, some previous studies done in the past 30 years did suggest that thinner people with hypertension might have worse outcomes than overweight or obese people. Chronic events linked to hypertension include diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke and cancer.

q

Effect Of Saturated Fats On Heart DiseaseOther studies conducted in the past could not find any differences in heart disease risk when saturated fats were replaced by carbohydrates. Researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts and other institutes believe this is because the studies did not distinguish between types of carbohydrates.

q

How Is Palm Oil Linked To Heart Disease?Palm oil contains a high amount of harmful saturated fat, about 50 percent higher than other commonly used cooking oils, but studies have found inconsistent effects of palm oil on blood lipid. A recent study that was published in May 2015 in ‘The Journal of Nutrition’ had reported that though palm oil raises LDL levels…

q

How Text Message Could Help Prevent Heart Disease?If people can quit smoking, get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and consume 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, their risk of getting heart disease and stroke would be lower. But the challenge is how to persuade people who are at risk of cardiovascular disease to adopt a healthy lifestyle. According to an Australian study...

q

How To Get Kids Eat More Fruits And Vegetables?In a recent paper published online August 18, 2015 in the ‘Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’, researchers from the Utah State University in Logan suggested that kids might eat more fruits and vegetables if they are offered cash. According to them, cash prizes might help convince kids to overcome their fear of trying new things.

q

How To Improve Survival Rate Of Cardiac Arrest?Training people in CPR and having automated external defibrillators (AED) handy will certainly help to increase the survival rate. Meanwhile, emergency medical service personnel must be trained to respond swiftly and correctly. For instance, operators managing 911 calls can be trained to talk people through CPR while waiting an ambulance to come, and the emergency departments need smooth and coordinated responses.

q

How To Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death?It is not uncommon to hear about the sudden passing of people who are practically healthy. Among those victims, some were young athletes. How did all these happen? According to cardiologists, this is almost always due to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), a condition in which the heart stops pumping effectively…

q

How Would Smoking Worsen Diabetes Complications?Cigarette smoking has been known to be a risk factor of Type-2 diabetes. A study that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology pointed out that smoking 16 to 25 cigarettes a day raises the risk for Type 2 diabetes to 3 times that of a non-smoker. Moreover, diabetics who also smoke are more likely than nonsmokers to have trouble with insulin dosing and with controlling their disease.

q

New Way To Help Quit Smoking SuccessfullyThe relapse rates for smokers trying to quit can be extremely high, ranging from 60 to 90 percent, within the first year. To refrain from resuming smoking, smokers should perhaps discuss the risks of cigarette smoking with their children. This is because they were at least 50 percent less likely to go back to smoking.

q

What Is Pulmonary Hypertension?Hypertension or high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, is not unfamiliar to most people. However, few are aware of a form of hypertension that occurs in the lung. This is called pulmonary hypertension that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart. It occurs when…

q

Why Energy And Sports Drinks Should Be Consumed With Caution?Several recent studies in the United States have found the rising popularity of these drinks among youth. For instance, a study published in May 2015 highlighted that about 1 in 5 youth up to 17 years old in the American consumes sports drinks at least once a week. Meanwhile, sales of energy drinks rose by 53 percent from 2007 to 2012 in contrast to decreasing sales for most other sugary drinks.

q

Why Heart Disease Risk Is Assessed By How One Sleeps?
According to a new study, up to one third or one fourth of the general population suffer from inadequate sleep: either insufficient duration of sleep or poor quality of sleep. Previous studies have linked inadequate sleep to an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke.

q

Why One Should Be Active To Prevent Heart Disease?Undoubtedly, a healthy lifestyle that can help prevent people from developing these chronic diseases should consist of having a healthy diet and regular physical exercises, in additional to not smoking and drinking. But a recent study argued that…

q

Why Painkillers Should Be Taken Cautiously?In July 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that most non-aspirin NSAIDs will have to carry a stronger warning on their labels about their cardiovascular risks. They also advised people to think carefully about taking these drugs, both over-the-counter versions and prescription pills.

q

Why Too Much Coffee Is Bad?Coffee not only contains many nutrients it is also the large source of antioxidants. Studies had shown that coffee may decrease the risk for many kinds of cancers, stroke and heart disease. It may also prevent Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's disease and Type-2 diabetes. Coffee also contains a material called caffeine.

q

Why Total Cholesterol Reading May Be Misleading?Total blood cholesterol is a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in the blood that includes both LDL and HDL cholesterol. Even if the total cholesterol is in the desirable category, it is possible that one may have unhealthy levels of HDL (too low) and LDL (too high). So it is also important to look at the individual HDL and LDL numbers, as well as the ratio.

q

Will Women Be Less Likely To Take Post-Heart Attack Drugs?After treatment, medications like ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and statins will usually be prescribed to heart attack survivors, both males and females, to prevent another one. However, according to a Canadian study, women seem to be less likely than men to take all the medications required after a heart attack to help prevent repeat episodes.

q

Would Aggressively Reduction Of Blood Pressure Cut Heart Disease Risk?Obviously, people with hypertension should appropriately be treated to bring the blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg, the commonly used target. But a large American government-sponsored study showed that lowering blood pressure below 140 mmHg would significantly reduce serious heart problems and cut the risk of death in adults aged 50 and above.

q

Would Bystanders’ CPR Raise Cardiac Arrest Survival?Cardiac arrest might be reversed if someone nearby can perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and use a defibrillator to shock the heart in order to restore a normal heart rhythm within a few minutes. Hence, bystanders can make a difference when somebody collapses with cardiac arrest.

q

Would Drinking Benefit Elderly?Light to moderate drinking is supposed to be healthful. But according to a recent study, elderly people might suffer heart damage from even moderate drinking. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and other institutions suggested that elderly people who increased alcohol intake could have mild alterations in cardiac structure and function.

q

Would Hole In The Heart Cause Heart Attack And Stroke?Complications can arise from hole in heart. For those with VSD, a large defect can result in heart failure, failure to gain weight, recurrent respiratory infections and damage to the blood vessels in the lung. ASD, on the other hand, can lead to…

q

Would Long Hours Of TV Viewing Cause Heart Disease?Research has linked sedentary behavior to incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular death. But different sedentary behaviors might have different effects. Several studies had found that the association between health and TV viewing time was stronger than other kinds of sedentary behaviors.

q

Would Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Cut Smoking And Encourage Quitting?Most people are aware of the health hazards that the smoking can cause and yet many smokers find it hard to quit. This is because tobacco contains nicotine, which is an addictive substance. Some scientists have been pushing for lower levels of nicotine in tobacco as early as in 1990s hoping to help smokers quit and prevent new users from becoming lifelong smokers. And for years, researchers have been testing...